A clean, green oven

Cleaning your oven is right up there on the list of life's less-than-fun activities. Because being green often means extra effort, you might assume that eco-friendly oven cleaning is even more time-consuming, labor-intensive and generally unfun.

Guess what? You're only half right.

The good news is if you have a self-cleaning oven, you are in the clear. Obviously, a self-cleaning oven means that, well, it's self-cleaning, so that's less work for you. Another eco-benefit, according to green experts, is that self-cleaning ovens are better insulated, so less heat is lost.

Now for the bad news: If you don't have a self-cleaning oven and you want to stop using those nasty, toxic oven sprays, then yes, you have your work cut out for you.

Mary Findley, founder of Mary Moppins Cleaning System and the author of “The Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Cleaning,” says that while using more eco-friendly products might mean more work, it's worth it. Back in the day, Findley used tons of heavy-duty oven-cleaning sprays, and now, she says, “my lungs are totaled.”

Here's her plan to clean your oven the green way:

What you need:
Baking soda, a plastic scraper, vinegar, a sponge and an orange concentrate cleaner. Findley says you need to make sure the orange concentrate cleaner you pick doesn't have petroleum distillates. “Those are very toxic,” she says. “So make sure you read the label.”

The process:

Step one —
Use your plastic scraper to get rid of as much of the caked-on gunk as you can. Findley says never use an old credit card for a scraper.

Step two —
Make a thick paste with the orange concentrate and the baking soda.

Step three —
Spread the paste inside the oven starting on the bottom and working your way up. If the paste drips off the sides or roof of the oven, reapply it. Let the paste sit for at least a half-hour.

Step four —
Using a wet non-scratch pad, wipe off the paste. If there is still some stubborn gunk, use the plastic scraper again.

Step five —
Wipe off the rest of the residue with paper towels or old newspapers.

Step six
— Use straight vinegar and an old terry cloth towel and wipe the inside of the oven. Repeat a couple of times.

Step seven —
Rinse it down with water and a sponge.

Step eight
— Turn on the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. If you see smoke coming out, turn it off and let it cool. Rinse with vinegar and then water again.

Findley says it's important to remember that preventing ugly food spills will make cleaning the inside of your oven easier. So if you can, cover what you're cooking. Findley recommends using glass cookware with fitted lids or using a large pan over a smaller pan if you don't have the money to spend on new cookware.

If you are cooking a dish at 375 degrees or below, cheese cloth can also help prevent spills. For her part, Findley avoids using aluminum foil because she says the aluminum can seep into your food. “That's not something you want,” she says.